The Hoden Family Blog: May 2017

As our time here in Edmonton comes to a close (yes, I realize I haven't written anything about that. I will! Just not quite ready) I was thinking back to what made this such an awesome experience. The number of people who came here to visit us blew our expectations out of the water. I was thinking back and wanted to write it down because it was so amazing. This is mostly just for me to have all written in one place...sorry if it's a bit long to read through it!

April 2014: Chris was living here alone and his brother Jeff flew up to go skiing for a few days in the mountains for Chris's birthday. Little did we know...this would be an annual event for the next 3 years!! Jeff came back April 2015, 2016 and March 2017 to see us and go skiing. Pretty sure he won't know what to do next April!

June 2014: David drove with Chris and Chloe up to Edmonton. They got the house ready to go before the big truck came in with all of our stuff. The kids and I flew up here to live on June 6th and since Chris was already here, my mom came with me! Ivy was pretty little and I wasn't sure I could handle three kiddos on my own. It ended up working out great...we got a bump which meant she had enough delta money to come back 1 1/2 more times without paying! It also worked out great in that she helped me get this house in order and when she left a week later, it pretty much was! I remember being extremely homesick once she left.

September 2014: My parents, my sister Tara and niece Quinn came in September 2014. Tara was en route back to Japan and was able to knock a few hours off the long flight if she left from here so she did! I'll always be so grateful that she came. I've said no to visiting friends/family other places because it seemed like it was too much work. Then I looked at what she did...traveled with a 3 month old by herself from Edmonton to Calgary to Tokyo to Okinawa. No excuses...just make it happen.

April 2015: My friend from Dubuque (currently Chicago) came with her two kiddos Maeli and Weston! I hadn't seen anybody from home since Christmas so I was super super happy to see her! This trip was not an easy one for her and I will always be grateful that she came. Her original date to come was March 12, but her mother in law unfortunately died on March 11 so she had to cancel the trip and rebook. She was told by teh airlines that if she presented the death certificate, she could get the cancellation fee waived. She sent in all the paperwork and never saw any money. So that trip cost them a pretty penny! We had a wonderful time...even had a night out by ourselves and I took my first uber:) My parents came at the end of the month and we took them to Banff for the weekend. It was still pretty cold there, but we had a nice time!

June 2015: We had lots of visitors this month! First up was my brother and his family! The kiddos were thrilled to see their cousins. We had a great mix of time in Edmonton and time in the mountains. We watched a lot of NBA finals action and spent lots of time out on our deck after the kids went to sleep. Second to come in June was Rachel. We headed to the mountains for a couple days by ourselves and although it was freeeeezing, we had a wonderful time! We took in a World Cup game as well which was awesome. At the end of this month my friend Marie and her son William (Max's first buddy in Dubuque) came to see us! We celebrated Canada Day, spent a day in Drumheller, 2 days in the mountains, drove the Ice Field Parkway and took in a World Cup game as well!

October 2015: My mom and dad came to take care of the kids while Chris attended his 15 year Luther reunion and I went to Portland to go on some wine tours with my college friends!

March 2016: The Arling family from Dubuque came and we went skiing and dog sledding in the mountains. Unbelievable experiences!

April 2016: My mom came for a visit...we did some Edmonton site seeing and also went to Olds, Alberta for a gymnastics competition for Mya. She won 4 golds and the all around gold so she was good luck!

July 2016: Chris's parents came to celebrate Canada Day with us! We toured the legislature, drove around Edmonton, watched fireworks, and spent lots of time on the driveway watching the kids play! We had wonderful weather that week.

August 2016: My dad drove us back to Edmonton from Decorah and then stayed a few days! He played with the kids while I put our life back in order after being away for 3 weeks!

October 2016: My sister in law Amanda nad her mom Linda came up for a few days and we headed straight to Banff! We had a great time and got to stay at the Banff Springs Hotel which was amazing. We hiked Sulpher mountain, they hiked in Lake Louise while I sipped wine at the Chateau Lake Louise hotel:)

November 2016: my parents came up and we celebrated US Thanksgiving with them! They also got to see Max and Mya in the church musical and Max play hockey. We hadn't celebrated Thanksgiving in November for awhile so it was nice! We also fit in the turkey trot while they were here:) For some reason I can't find any pictures from that trip!

March 2017: The Arlings from Dubuque had such a great time in 2016 that they decided to come back again!! We headed back to the mountains for more skiing, skating and all around winter fun. Later in the month, Chris's parents came for spring break. We went to Lake Louise skiing and had a wonderful time! David hadn't skied in a number of years so it was great to get him back on the skis...it was like riding a bike for him!